And the winner, by random drawing, is Dragonsinger! Dragonsinger, send an E-Owl, and I’ll get your copy pre-ordered right away. Stay tuned for the next Black Friday Giveaway!
Aberforth’s got a lot of copies of Beedle’s tales lying around, and he’s looking to give ‘em away. Black Friday giveaway #1 here at The Hog’s Head is a free copy of the standard edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Entering is easy. Simply leave a comment telling us your favorite fairy tale and something about it, and you’ll be entered into a drawing that will take place in just a few hours. Enter by 1pm, EST today. The winner will be announced then, along with the next giveaway!
Don’t forget to do your shopping today at Amazon.com, either through the Hog’s Head Bookstore, or by clicking here for Black Friday deals!
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Travis,
I like the Wizard and the Hopping Pot story. To me, it reminds me that if we keep turning our back on things that sooner or later they will catch up with us or will come back to haunt us.
Then of course there is the Tale of the Three Brothers.
Jim
Beauty and the Beast, though I must admit that my acquaintance with the story is mainly via Disney. Now that I feel guilty I’ll have to read the original version later today.
I don’t live in the States, and Black Friday is just another damp and chilly day in November, but I do like fairy tales, so let me be amongst the first to jump in.
There are a few fairy tales I’m very fond of, one by Oscar Wilde, and a couple by Hans Christian Andersen. Wilde’s The Selfish Giant is one of my favorites; it’s a tale of redemption, it’s profoundly spiritual, and it’s joyful and heartbreaking at the same time. Some have said that it’s not for children, but I think it does work for children, at least as well as Deathly Hallows. Great Christmas tale.
I love many of Anderson’s stories. The Little Match-seller and <The Little Mermaid both break my heart everytime I read them; the image of the little girl, warming herself by the images conjured up in the flames of a match is very moving as is the concept of sacrificing all for love – and unrequited love at that. But my favorite Andersen story is The Snow Queen, the story of little Kay, seduced by the adventure and power of the Snow Queen, a splinter of glass through is eye, given the impossible task of spelling the word “eternity” out of pieces of ice so he can be free, and redeemed by the love of little Gerda who thaws the lump of ice in his heart so he cries and washes out the splinter of glass so he can be free.
From Beedle the Bard, my favorite tale has always been the Tale of the Three Brothers…yea it’s cliche, but it is a beautiful story that brings me back to our wonderful fandom when we were all first reading DH for the first time.
I’ve always been a huge fan of the original Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales. They’re so dark and twisted! Fantastic! Though I’ve always been a sucker for everything Disney ^_^ ……
Hans Christian Anderson is great. When you read his
‘Little Mermaid” and then compare it to the Disney version it is amazing how much Disney missed (and/or purposefully distorted?) the point.
That said, my favorite fairy tale is Rumplestiltskin. He is a great twisted little villain.
BTW – how do you get one of those nifty avatars?
Oh – I guess they just show up then.
EStrunk, I have them automatically set for monsters, but you can upload and use your own, which will override the monsters. Go to http://en.gravatar.com. Sign up for an account under the same email address that you use in the comment field on blogs. Then follow the directs, upload your image, and there you are!
The Princess Bride, by S. Morgenstern — perseverance prevails!
(“Anybody want a peanut?”)
My favorite fairy tale…before reading comments my very first thought was Princess Bride, so I’m with Marsha on that one! But for the sake of originality – I’ve always been a fan of Peter and the Wolf, I used to love listening to the orchestra instruments that “played” characters when I was a kid!
My most favorite growing up was Hansel & Gretel. I was always so very fascinated by the house built from gingerbread and even now, my entire kitchen is decorated in a gingerbread theme for the Christmas Holidays each year.
Yet, this story is so very very relevant for today with the events of child abandonment and abuse in our world.
I love, love, love the story of Beauty and the Beast as retold by Robin McKinley in _Beauty_. IIRC it was her first published book and it expands on the story just enough to let you luxuriate in it a while. Plus, a book junkie like me really envies her version of the Beast’s library, which is full of books that haven’t been written yet.
Although I don’t love it best (it is a little too post-modern), I do love The Princess Bride:
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
I love _The Golden Key_ by George MacDonald. It’s the story of Tangle and Mossy on their life journey together to find the land from whence the shadows fall. It makes me tear up every time I read it.
Hans the Hedgehog. It’s in Grimm’s Fairytales. I’m not sure why I like it so much, it’s just so odd, like many of the tales in Grimm.
Bluebeard, the wildest (and bloodiest) of the Grimm’s Tales. Why? Because my two oldest daughters made me retell it (and the 7 kid goats) repeatedly and because Dickens’ nursemaid apparently told a variant of the story to him that he thought of it as the origin of his gothic imagination and realism.
John, under the 1 pm wire
told it to him so often, nightly for years (?!) that he thought of it…
Fairy Tales, growing up, took the shape of Disney movies. I loved Pocahontas, who could talk to animals and live in such a free and wild state.
If we’re talking the classic tales, though, I’d have to say Sleeping Beauty, which was so magical and pure delight!
Marsha,
You mean- The Princess Bride by William Goldman?